Pitt, of course, spent time in South Dakota while waiting for a new plane to get them to Boise. They got in some 10+ hours later than intended, missed their scheduled practice and broke out the “on the bright side we bonded” card. Honestly, though, if it took the plane problems in the last few weeks of the season for the bonding to happen, that shouldn’t be considered a good thing. It’s unclear if the lay-over from hell will have any real affect.
To counter that, the 12:40 Eastern start time means that Pacific will be playing at 9:40 am by their internal clocks. As you can imagine, they aren’t too wild about that. For Pacific, this is their chance to put their program on the map. Get in there with Gonzaga, Southern Illinois and Creighton. Not as a one-year flash, but as one of the perennial “name” teams from the lesser conferences that always seems to be in the NCAA Tournament.
It’s good that Thomason has dreams, though. After all, this is UOP’s biggest moment in the post-Keith Swagerty era (if you have to ask, you’re not nearly old enough). As the relentlessly avuncular Thomason says, “Whatever gives you a better chance to win the game.”
Thomason isn’t proud, but neither is he desperate. The Tigers, playing in successive NCAA Tournaments for the first time in 38 years (see Swagerty, you young punks), face a nationally known but beatable opponent in Pitt, and even though the Tigers are loaded with impact seniors, a win this a.m. in the unfortunately named Taco Bell Arena could leave UOP with the gentle glow of the late ’90s Gonzaga team that broke through the glass ceiling to national prominence.
That’s worth getting out of bed for any morning.
Naturally, though, Thomason has his doubts about that. The game time, 9:40 a.m. PST, could be tough on your deeper sleepers, and Thomason did suggest that the time was a mild annoyance. “I’ve never seen the wisdom in a game that starts at 10:40,” he said. “I don’t understand how that happens.”
Well, of course, he does understand it. CBS does the sayin’, the schools do the playin’, simple as that. What, you think counterprogramming “Live With Regis and Kelly” comes without pain?
The Pitt players are still talking confidently about what they hope to accomplish in the NCAA. Heck, Carl Krauser is talking a decent amount of smack.
“They don’t rebound, they don’t crash the boards,” Krauser said of the Tigers, who average 33.4 boards per game, five fewer than the Panthers. “Their style is different. They like to go outside with it. It’s that West Coast thing. We’re East Coast, Pittsburgh and New York. We like to bang and rebound and be in the middle of it. I think that will work to our advantage.”
Not so fast, said Pacific’s top two players. Leading scorer Guillaume Yango of France and Big West Conference MVP David Doubley of Oakland, Calif., took umbrage with Krauser’s characterizations.
Eleven Pacific players hail from California. The remaining four are from overseas.
“It’s not the first time I’ve heard people saying we’re not tough and we can’t bang with them,” said Yango, a powerful 23-year-old at 6-foot-9, 250 pounds. “They can do the talking. If they want to talk, go ahead and talk. But let’s see what happens when we get on the floor.”
Does that imply Yango and his mates can play toughball with the Panthers?
“We’ve done it before,” he said. “We know we can.”
As for Doubley, who reputedly is hard-nosed like Krauser, he wanted to clarify any misconceptions about New York and California players. His message went directly to Krauser.
“Obviously, he’s never been to the West Coast, and he’s never played against us,” Doubley said. “Because we don’t intimidate easily and there’s nothing soft about us.”
It will be interesting to see whether Krauser got under their skin, the article seems to imply it, but whether it carries over to the court will be something else.
Ronald Ramon is admitting that his right shoulder has not fully healed from an injury. There’s also this:
A Web site called collegeinsider.com has deemed Pitt’s Pat Sandle one of America’s best-dressed assistant coaches. The site sets up NCAA Tournament brackets pitting coaches against each other. Sandle is a No. 6 seed in the Southeast region, matched against North Texas’ Kobie Baker in the first round.
You can find the bracket here. Coach Jamie Dixon did not make the field of 64 for head coaches.
As for the game, Ron Cook says it is all on Chevy Troutman. You know what? I’m not disagreeing. The column is a must read, if for no other reason:
“Hey,” Troutman asked a pretty girl on her way through the trainer’s room, “are you on the gym team?”
Joe Starkey gets Fran Fraschilla to evaluate the match-up. He favors Pitt. Another match-up will be between the Centers. An advantage for Pacific, is that they are such a balanced scoring team, that shutting down one player isn’t enough.
Pitt says it intends to stick to its game plan of getting the ball inside. It has to.
Everyone seems to think this could be the best game of the day. Both teams appear so evenly matched. Of course, everyone expected the Pitt-Villanova game in the Big East to be an instant classic and…
4 hours and counting.
